Binghamton voters to decide council's veto power

Nov. 5, 2012

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BINGHAMTON — Mayor Matthew T. Ryan thinks voters should turn down a referendum that would strengthen city council’s powers at the expense of the city’s chief elected executive.

Voters at polling places in the city will be faced with a “yes” or “no” choice on Proposition One, a referendum on whether Binghamton should reduce the percentage of city council members needed to overturn a mayoral veto from three-fourths to two-thirds.

“I think it’s a bad idea,” Ryan said at a news conference in City Hall on Monday. “The fact is the last three vetoes I gave to (city council) they overrode them. There’s no reason to change the balance of power.”

Ryan, whose term expires at the end of 2013 and who cannot run again due to term limits, said none of the state’s other similarly-sized cities have moved to amend their charters to make overrides easier.

“Why change something that already works?” he said.

City Council President Teri Rennia, D-3rd District, sees it differently.

Before council was reduced from nine members to seven members in 2008, it took seven votes to overturn a mayoral veto — meaning three dissenting members could prevent the rest of council from passing an override.

Now, six of the seven members need to agree to override a veto.

“I think that most people agree that that has seriously compromised council’s effectiveness,” Rennia said.

If Proposition One passes, only five members would be needed to override a veto. Rennia said this would return the balance of power, proportionally, to where it was prior to redistricting.

“When council was reduced, the residents had their representation reduced,” she said. “This sort of addresses that by giving us a little bit more level footing on par with the administration.”